1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to the field of infant care and feeding. Specifically, this invention relates to an improved system and method for dispensing liquid medicaments to infants that is effective, accurate, inexpensive and compatible with most of the baby bottles that are commercially available today.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The administration of medicines to unwilling patients and particularly to infants and young children is a notoriously difficult task.
The problem is that many medicinal preparations are not palatable, in particular for small babies who have not tasted anything other then milk. Having a new taste is an unprecedented and extraordinary experience and even new foods have to be introduced gradually.
One way of introducing new foods is to mix a small amount of a new food with a known food, for example milk. Medicines may also be administered in this way, and are often added to a bottle containing the infant's usual milk-feed or some other liquid with which the infant is already familiar. Known mechanisms for accomplishing this are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,895 to Roskilly, 3,645,413 to Mitchell, 4,078,566 to Urban, and 5,029,701 to Roth et al.
The Mitchell patent involves a specialized medicine dispenser that includes a very small bottle having a capacity of about one and one-half teaspoons, and a nipple that stretches over the mouth of the bottle. This, however, might cause a less than effective seal to be formed between the nipple and the small bottle or vial, resulting in spilling or dripping of the medicament. Moreover, it maybe difficult for a mother or other caregiver to stretch the nipple over the bottle without spilling the medicament, particularly if he or she is carrying or watching the infant at the same time. In addition, the bottle is small enough for an infant to swallow if not carefully watched.
Roskilly involves a rather complicated assembly that fits on top of a bottle and includes a nipple, a passageway defined between the bottle and the nipple, and a syringe assembly for injecting medicament into the stream of liquid coming out of the bottle to dispense the medicament to an infant. While this may be effective, it is rather complicated, expensive to manufacture, and difficult to clean.
Urban involves a medicinal container having the general shape of a nipple that is constructed to define a chamber that serves as reservoir for a liquid, semi-solid or solid medicament and protects the medicament from the outside environment. It includes a plug that, upon being pulled out of the nipple, will permit an infant to remove the medicament from the nipple by sucking. This arrangement is rather complicated, and is not meant to dispense a liquid medicament that is already stored in another container, such as a medicine bottle.
The Roth patent discloses a medicine dispenser insert for nursing bottles that involves a vial that is shaped to be inserted into a cylindrical bore area of a nipple. This, like the Mitchell system, would be rather difficult to use in practice, and might result in dripping or spilling of the medicament.
One problem with all of the systems discussed above is that an infant is likely to be wary of any medicine dispensing assembly that appears unusual.
It is clear that there has existed long and unfilled need in the art for a system for dispensing liquid medicine to an infant that is effective, accurate, inexpensive and compatible with most of the baby bottles that are commercially available today.